HUNDREDS of villagers gathered together on Friday at Kington St Michael to open a special present, which they spent months saving up for a new post office.

More than a year ago the former post office closed down, but the parish council vowed to reopen it as quickly as possible.

After 13 months of hard campaigning, fundraising and the conversion of part of the village hall, the new post office and store is open for business.

The villagers raised £10,000 themselves towards the £35,000 project through fundraising events such as an auction of promises, which included stud fees, and the rest was made up with various grants.

The final piece of the jigsaw came together when North Wiltshire district councillor Howard Greenman, who runs several other post offices, was recruited as the sub-postmaster.

"It has been incredibly well supported since its inception and the whole exercise has been a demonstration of collective effort," he said.

MP for North Wiltshire James Gray was on hand to unveil the new post office sign, which was draped with a Union Jack, to the crowd.

The store was then opened to allow villagers to have a look round.

In just two hours more than £200 of goods had been sold.

A specially-baked cake, which was decorated with a post office on top, was cut to mark the occasion.

Originally the parish council had feared the closure of the old post office would rip the heart out of the community.

It sent out a questionnaire to residents to gauge public support for the idea of resurrecting the village post office.

The overwhelmingly positive public response prompted it to start fundraising.

Village project co-ordinator Linda Durno, said: "I have never seen so many people in the village hall. I think people realise it's a great achievement.

"It has been well supported by everyone in the village, which I think shows just how much everyone wanted a post office."